Couple victims of massive fraud tied to jobless claims

COLUMBUS — The first signs that Catherine and William Martin were victims of unemployment fraud began a few months ago when the two began getting debit cards in the mail that potentially could be loaded with unemployment benefits.

Seven ReliCards came in the mail in just one day from Indiana. All in all, the Zanesville couple has received 16 cards with different names from multiple states.

Then there were the tax forms from Ohio, Michigan, Maine and Virginia documenting the benefits the Martins supposedly received in 2020. The Michigan tax form showed someone claimed $4,880 in benefits in their name in 2020.

They’ve also received a letter from the Kentucky unemployment system telling them they were eligible for a maximum weekly benefit of $569, and documents showing claims were filed in Massachusetts as well.

“It’s just hard to wrap your head around,” Catherine Martin said. “We’re victims. It happens all the time.”

That the Martins have fallen victim to unemployment fraud is not unusual during this pandemic. Millions of fraudulent claims for unemployment benefits have been filed in Ohio and other states for months. In particular, claims from federal programs created to help people not normally eligible for unemployment aid, such as independent contractors and the self-employed, have been vulnerable.

But the fraud tied to the Martins is extraordinary.

“I’m worried that it is happening so much,” Catherine Martin said.

The Martins, 74, suspect the fraud stems from a breach years ago at William Martin’s work that exposed his personal information.

Even before the pandemic, for six years the two have been dealing with banks and stores where fraudulent accounts have been opened. Even if the issues around unemployment fraud are resolved, the problems they’ve been dealing with for years don’t figure to go away anytime soon.

ReliCards work as prepaid debit cards. States load jobless benefits on them once a weekly claim has been approved.

The cards must be activated before they can be used, likely meaning that the Martins were able to stop the actual theft of unemployment benefits before it happened.

Despite taking numerous steps to lock down their accounts by using fraud alerts and credit freezes, Catherine Martin said it is easy to open an account. All a fraudster needs is a name, a birth date and a Social Security number. The accounts are opened online.

Banks and state employment agencies haven’t been much help to deal with the fraud, she said.

In fact, it is usually the opposite. She said she has found it far more difficult to prove to banks and credit card companies that she isn’t the bad person — when she can even get through to someone who will try to listen.

“That’s the frustrating part,” she said. “You get this and try to make it right. You try to let them know, and you can’t do it.”

Instead, the two have depended on cybersecurity software from NortonLifeLock to help with the fraud.

Since the pandemic started, the company has seen a surge in unemployment insurance fraud cases, said Paige Hanson, chief of cyber safety education for NortonLifeLock. Between March 2020 and February, customer claims climbed by 12,220%.

Catherine Martin said the reason they are telling their story is because they want people to know what’s happened to them could happen to someone else. They advise people to maintain vigilance over their personal finances.

“I really feel for people, especially for people that don’t know what to do, who don’t have someone to represent them,” she said.